Lee put the trim on the big windows today with the help of Elders Paxman and Fisher. It is light gray and the house will be painted a lighter gray with the back and front door red.

It was a beautiful day today--cool with lots of sunshine! He said they didn't even break a sweat.

Here is our finished deck! The ground will be built up around it. It is so beautiful and big! Charlie, my cousin came back today to help. He was determined to see it finished. We appreciate him so much! He and Lee have worked so hard in the heat to get it done.

Today was another hot day with 102 heat index. But Lee and Charlie worked hard and this is their results. The deck is close to being finished! Hopefully tomorrow it will be done and I will post more pics then.

Lee started our back deck today with the help of my dear cousin, Charlie. It was so hot today--102 heat index (yes, I know, it's October--but we ARE in SE Texas). They got so much done. There will be stairs all the way around when it's finished. The front will be the same. It's shaping up!

So here we are with more pictures.

The roof has taken forever because it was laborious for Lee to work on with "old" knees. If any of you have ever done roofing you understand. My cousin, Charlie and the missionaries have helped so much and we will be forever grateful for that.

The big windows are beautiful and the house has caused quite a stir here in my little hometown of Buna, Texas because it is so different than anything for many miles around. Most people like it but I think a lot of people are awaiting judgment until it is finish.

Interesting story on the fireplace. Lee found it at a junk yard. It is an antique "heatilator" type. He bought it, brought it home, cleaned it up, installed it and is going to install a blower that will blow the heat into the room. He thinks it will heat our entire house. (You know, Texas doesn't get a lot of cold weather--Yes!!!!) We love the look of it.

I forgot to mention that the little newspaper, The Buna Beacon came out and talked to us about the house and we were on the front page. Ethan was here at the time so he was with us. It seems everyone in town was concerned about the "bunaHAUS" writing on the fireplace so they published the article so everyone would understand what it meant. Wish I could somehow get the article on the blog but I don't have a scanner.

It's that point in time when building a house feels like it's at a standstill or is moving very slowly but we are making progress! The weather about 2 weeks ago was soooo hot and Lee was on the roof working. He kind of got burnt out so he took a few days off. He's back full-force now. 2 of the windows were broken while being installed so we had to buy replacements at $212 each. That was the pits! He's putting in insulation when it's so hot he can't be on the roof then works on the roof when the weather's more favorable.

My computer broke and I just bought a new one so I can publish to our blog now. I DON'T like being without a computer!

We have windows! The roof is ready for the final roofing! We are really coming along on it. It's looking more like a house everyday. Ethan has been SUCH a big help. He works tirelessly with his Papa. We are so proud of him Cruz and Ella have tried to help too so I have to give them some credit.

We have had an angel appear at our home in Buna--Rodney McKimmey. He is a friend who came with a crew of 2 and our son Richard from Vegas to put in the electrical--free of charge. He sent the 2 men in a truck with all of the supplies and flew him and Richard here. They have worked for 3 days and have done a jam up job putting in the electrical--top notch all the way. Thank you, Rodney! Thank you, Richard for all that you did on the house while you were here too. Richard painted "bunaHaus" on the chimney so everyone from the road could see it. I'm posting a pic of it. Funny son!

I forgot to post pics of Ethan, the great helper. Here he is putting up the hurricane ties. Isn't he handsome?

Ethan, the great helper

Ethan finally made it here last Friday and Lee put him to work putting up hurricane ties for the roof. He can't believe this Texas heat. It's been in the mid and high 90's with no rain in sight for the next 5 days.

They're still working on the rafters. I think the task has been more daunting than Lee thought it would be. He had 4 burly missionaries come over yesterday and put up 10.

Rafters, rafters, rafters!

I don't know what happened to my post for today so I'll add another one.
We've had help the last two days--our good friend, James Walsh and my favoritest cousin (I tell all of them that), Charlie. Most of the rafters are up and they're preparing for the roof-decking which Lee is thinking about having someone else do. (I think he deserves a break, don't you?)

Our grandson, Ethan is coming tomorrow and we are so excited. He and Lee will have a lot of "male-bonding" time while working on the house

All walls are up except one! The gentleman in the photo (besides Lee to the left) just stopped off the road one day and offered to help any way he could. He offered any of his tools or anything else we might need. He put his money where his mouth was today and helped for several hours, brought his ladders, saw and nail gun. Thank you, Frank Garcia (he doesn't speak espanol--go figure).

All of the walls except 2 are up. Yippeeee! It's been really hot but cooler weather is on its way for a few days.

The Walsh family came to help today--a 5 hour drive (to and from) but they came and worked their little buns off. James, Jamie, Vicki, Jared and Ryan Walsh--such good friends.

We now have 2 closed in walls in one of the guest bedrooms (we call it James and Sharon's bedroom). It's lookin' up!

It's coming along! My cousin, Charlie Iwasko came and helped Lee again today. We had a beautiful day--a little warm--but beautiful. As long as I feed them (it's the least I can do), I wonder if people will keep coming to help? :)

We have walls! Elders Horn and Chappell help Lee every Monday so they came again today and helped put up our first walls.

We got almost 2" of rain yesterday. Our lot hadn't dried out from the last rain! But we're expecting beautiful (and hot) weather for the next 5 days.

We had an absolutely beautiful day today--light wind, sunshine, not too hot. He got the decking on! So tomorrow he starts the walls! Yipee!

We got 2" of rain last night so notice Lee is wading around the bays in his rubber boots. Oh the perils of building a house but then I should be grateful because this will be the LAST house we build! Hallelujah!

We got a new addition to the site today--Lee's new straw hat! He was so excited so I had to get a pic of it. The only problem was that the wind was blowing and every time he turned around, it blew off. So who knows if it's going to stay and besides with it on, he looks more like "Farmer Brown" than "Carpenter Joe". :)

We have a floor! My cousin, Charlie Iwasko came and helped Lee all day long today. It would've taken Lee 3 days to do what they did today. We thank everyone who has helped!

As you can see, we won't have to worry about our house flooding. We got 10 inches of rain in 2 days the other day so it happens a lot here. That's why everything is so green year round. The weather has been beautiful and will be for the next 7 days so progress will be made!

Buna sunsets

This is a sample of the sunsets we have from our home! Que bueno!

bunaHaus

Okay, here goes! I've never done this before so it's a new experience for me.

We are building a home in the little country town I grew up in--Buna, Texas. And when I say "we are building", I mean just that. Well, I'm not doing so much but Lee is building it. I help when there's something not so heavyweight to do.

This is a rendering of it, done by no other than our son, Richard. I'm so proud of him! It was at his behest that I consented to do a modern home. Everybody down here thinks it's weird! Go figure!